Conventionally, in a (multi-character and/or networked) game, characters and/or objects may interact in the same instance of the game. Users or players may interact with objects, other characters, and/or non-player characters (NPCs). NPCs are typically controlled through Artificial Intelligence (AI), rules, goals, and/or other mechanisms. NPC actions and movements may be governed by the same or similar rules (e.g. physics rules) as characters controlled by human players. For example, characters may be not permitted to walk through walls or other solid objects. The types of possible and/or permissible interactions of a character with objects and other characters may depend on attributes of a character and/or object, as well as other considerations.
Typically, the map of the virtual space is similar if not the same for all players. That is, the terrain is mostly the same, even if some smaller objects may be in different locations for different players.
One way to guide interactions of characters within the virtual space may be by constantly checking and/or detecting whether an individual character is so close to any objects that the individual character is permitted to interact with it (and whether the particular object is of a type that the individual character is able to interact with at that moment). Computationally, this may be costly. For complex virtual spaces that include many objects and many characters, permitted interactions may be numerous, such that constantly checking and/or detecting may be complicated and/or cost-prohibitive. Furthermore, the number of permitted interactions may be so numerous that human-controlled characters may be overwhelmed by evaluating all or most options.